Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5: Weekly Update

My SMART Goal

My revamped SMART goal is "Each week, I will drink at least 2 less cups of caffeine (8 oz) than the prior week."

Successes & Challenges
Ok so it didn't really work out to well this week either. With too many other things on my mind, caffeine-elimination wasn't among them. I again had 18 cups however. So while it wasn't a win, I consider it a tie. Can't really say I had much success this week. I did however go out and by some Apple Cinnamon tea. So we'll see how that goes this upcoming week.

Feelings

Disappointed. But at the same time, I'm still not putting in as much effort as I should be. I'm looking forward to seeing my total for the upcoming week. I'm going home to the cities for the weekend, so there's probably 2 days where I won't have any caffeine. So I got that going for me

What I Learned

Without proper motivation, I'm not going to achieve my goal each week.  I think I need to figure out another way to motivate me to accomplish this.

Plans for Next Week

The SMART goal is going to stay the same. "Each week, I will drink at least 2 less cups of caffeine (8 oz) than the prior week."

Again, I now have Apple Cinnamon Tea. So I'm going to try my hardest to have that whenever I want some caffeine.

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 4: Weekly Update

 

(I'm probably the only one who thinks this Darth Vader coffee mug is awesome)

My SMART Goal

My revamped SMART goal is "Each week, I will drink at least 2 less cups of caffeine (8 oz) than the prior week."

Successes & Challenges

Well, I didn't exactly reach my goal. I had 19 cups 2 weeks ago, so I hoped to cut it down to 17 or less this week.  I got down to 18.  So while I cut down, I didn't as much as I hoped I would.

This was another week where I kind of just tried to do it cold turkey.  I need to get out to the grocery store and get some more tea, or at least find a good alternative.

Feelings

I don't really know.  This week, I started to have second thoughts about quitting.  Because my God, coffee is delicious, and it really does get me going in the morning. If I don't have coffee in the morning, I feel like a zombie for a couple of hours.

It was a stressful week as it is, so that kind of made me put my coffee-minimization on the back burner. But when I start to get these feelings I just need to tell myself that I can do it, and when it's all said and done I will be healthier. It's just tough to do when the light at the end of the tunnel is so far away.

What I Learned

Again, I'm not going to do this cold turkey. I just can't do it. I need to get some tea and really get working on this.  But I promise that I will be down to 16 cups this week.

Plans for Next Week

The SMART goal is going to stay the same. "Each week, I will drink at least 2 less cups of caffeine (8 oz) than the prior week." So 16 cups, here I come!

Also, I Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 4 Linky Party at Eco-Chic With Amy.

Share and Voice: To recycle or not to recycle?

(I have no idea if this picture is real or not)

Hey everybody. So as I was about to take out the recycling today, I looked in it and found one of those plastic containers that lunch meat is usually sold in. I then turn my head a little bit and find the same type of lunch meat container in the garbage instead. At that moment, I realized something...I had no idea whether or not to recycle the plastic container.

So i decided to look into it a bit more, and compile a list of things that CAN be recycled and a list of things that CAN'T be recycled. I often just kind of assume a lot of things can be recycled, so I figured making a list would help me out quite a bit. So here it is.

DO Recycle

• Glass Bottles/Jars
• Pretty much any and all paper
• Milk and Juice containers
• Detergent bottles
• Soda Bottles
• Clean Foil
• Aluminum Cans
  

DON'T Recycle

• Liquids
• Plastic Grocery Bags
• Broken glass
• Corks
• Glad Cling Wrap
• Styrofoam
• Light-Bulbs
• Microwaveable Food Trays
• Shampoo Bottles
• DELI PRODUCT CONTAINERS

So there it is.  Do not recycle those lunch meat containers.  

Here are the sources I used.

Site 1

Site 2

 

 

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3: Weekly Update

My SMART Goal
   "I will drink 3 or less cups of a caffeinated beverage (8 oz cups) each week for the next 10 weeks."
 BUT...I have decided to change my SMART goal that will be a little easier to accomplish, btu still get the point across.
"Each week, I will drink at least 2 less cups of caffeine (8 oz) than the prior week."
So think of it this way.  The 1st week, I drank 21 cups.  Last week, 19. This week, I hope to drink 17 or less.  By the end of the class, I should be down to less than a cup a day.

Successes and Challenges
So 2 weeks ago, I drank 21 cups.  This past week(Monday to Sunday) I drank 19 cups. So its an improvement. I didn't have any tea, or any substitute for that matter, I just forced myself not to drink as much.  Not the best tactic, but it some-what worked.

Feelings
Mild happiness.  I improved, but at this point, it is just a minor improvement.  I can do better.

What I Learned
Again, it's going to be hell trying to quit this.  But I need to find a good substitute if I want to quit it successfully.  My best bet is finding a tea that tastes good. 

Plans For Next Week
Go to the grocery store and find a substitute.  Maybe look online as well to see what kind of options are out there.

Also, I blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change:Week 3 Linky Party hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic With Amy.

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2: Weekly Update

Photo property of http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/474975/2823101/0/1160646235/Sell_Indonesia_Coffee_Bean.jpg

 My SMART Goal

My smart goal for this project is...
   "I will drink 3 or less cups of a caffeinated beverage (8 oz cups) each week for the next 10 weeks."
That ain't happening just yet.

Successes and Challenges
Wellthe main challenge is basically the fact that I am addicted.  Can't just quit that easily.  Last week, I took note of how many cups of caffeine I had throughout the week.  In 7 days, I had 21 cups of coffee.  My goal is to have less than 3 per week.  So this could be rough.

Monday - 2 cups.  Needed some coffee to help me study
Tuesday - 2 cups. I was just thirsty I guess
Wednesday - 0 cups!  What up! Don't know how I did it, but at the end of the day I was struggling to move.

Feelings
Well, these past few days have been ok.  I don't expect to drop down to less than a cup of caffeine a day just yet.  So 4 cups in 3 days is good for right now.

What I Learned
It will be pretty hard to quit caffeine. But I have had some tea in the morning, and it has been doing an ok job at waking me up in the morning.

Plans For Next Week
Tea Tea Tea. Also, maybe trying some Orange Juice in the morning.  Someone tole me to try that, so I might give it a go.

Also, I blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change:Week 2 Linky Party hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic With Amy.

 

Eco-Chic Lifestlye Change Week 1: My SMART Goal

MY SMART GOAL

Hey there everybody.  My SMART goal is 'I will drink 3 or less cups of a caffeinated beverage (8 oz cups) each week for the next 10 weeks.'  This....will be tough for me, seeing as how I'm addicted and all.

HOW IS THIS CHANGE ECO-CHIC?

This might not seem like an Eco-friendly change at first, but it really is.

• By limiting myself to 3 cups of that delicious coffee a week, I will be using less cups at the Coffee Shop on campus, which will create less waste.
• I will be buying less bulk coffee from the grocery store, and less creamer, which also will create less waste in the end.
• I will be using less water at my house, seeing as how I will have to make less coffee in my coffee maker at my house.  So, using less water = good.
• Also, I will be buying less pop.  So I won't be wasting materials that are used to manufacture and distribute.

WHY IS THIS BEHAVIOR IMPORTANT TO ME?

This is important to me for a couple of reason.

1) My Health.  I am addicted to caffeine, I can admit that. Its an awful, but delicious problem at the same time. If I go a couple days without caffeine in my system, I begin to get sick, and I just all around can't function very well.  So I do not plan on eliminating it entirely just yet.  But by the end of the semester, I should be un-addicted.

Something I remember from taking Drug-Ed last year, was some of the side-effects of caffeine usage.  The main one I am concerned with is Memory Loss.  I have a hard time remembering 4 things I need to get at the grocery store without the use of a list.  So simply, me getting off of caffeine should ultimately lead to me having better memory.

2) Money - Say I buy a 12 pack of Mountain Dew a week, on top of having 2 cups of coffee on campus each week.  So the 12 pack costs 4 bucks about.  Same with 2 cups of coffee a week(at $2 a piece).  So that's $8 dollars a week on caffeine.  And honestly, that's taking it a little light. So $8 X 52 Weeks = $416. Oh how I would love to have that money in my pocket instead of using it to buy unhealthy drinks.

So there it is.  I hope to have good weekly reports for everyone!

Steve

Also, I blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 1 Linky Party hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy

Welcome to Steve's Enviro-Blog!

Hey everybody. My name is Steve, and I am the Teaching Assistant for Dr. Versnik-Nowak's Environmental Health class.

There are 6 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
5. Read 'n' Seed
6. Share and Voice

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1. Steve@Steves Enviro-Blog
   
2. Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy
   

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Blogged for the Welcome Linky Party hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy